At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Lord Cameron compared the calls for negotiations to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler by prime minister Neville Chamberlain in the lead-up to the Second World War.
“If foreign ministers keep saying ‘Yes, we will support Ukraine but, yes, we must also start a peace process’, they’ll neither get a strong Ukraine nor a peace process,” he told the gathering of diplomats, foreign leaders and executives.
“This is like being a foreign minister or prime minister in the 1930s and fighting that aggression. And what we know from that is, if you appease aggression you get more of it.”
Lord Cameron also nodded as Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, stood up and said: “There is never a shortage of pocket Chamberlains willing to sacrifice other people’s land or freedom for their own peace of mind. We shouldn’t do it.”
French support questioned
It came as France’s defence minister hit back at German accusations it had fallen short on supporting Ukraine.
Sebastien Lecornu said a list compiled by the Kiel Institute, a German think tank, showing Paris 12th in terms of military deliveries was “neither trustworthy nor viable”.
The tracker, last updated before Emmanuel Macron’s latest promises of missiles and bombs, showed that Paris had provided just €544 million in bilateral military aid to Kyiv since the start of the full-scale invasion almost two years ago.
In comparison, Germany was credited with promising €17 billion towards Ukraine’s war effort.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
